Successful learning sometimes requires that the learner abandons or rejects one or more prior concepts, beliefs, or intuitive theories. Such "nonmonotonic changes" are widely believed to have a low probability of occurring spontaneously and to be difficult to promote with instruction. A theory of nonmonotonic cognitive change should explain both…

This article considers the social problem of violence and the alternative of resolution through cooperation and compassion from the perspective of cognitive neuroscience. Violence is a social problem, the manifestations of which have a biological basis reflected in the development of aggression and the neural mechanisms that regulate it.…

In contrast to subjects such as mathematics and the sciences, it has been argued that technology education lacks a clear definition and a clearly defined knowledge base. This discursive article seeks to inform the debate by highlighting the matter of subject definition and in addition to examine the key issue of the knowledge which underpins…

The article discusses learning disabilities and concomitant emotional/behavioral problems in three areas: problems of control and regulation of impulse, problems in perception and concept formation, and defective self concept. (Author/DB)

Presents the text of a message sent to Susan Gerofsky by Robert Thomas after reading her article on a linguistic and narrative view of word problems in mathematics education. Gerofsky's response is also included. (DDR)

Scientific and everyday knowledge domains are compared so as to reveal the distinctive differences between their goals and the cognitive processes used to attain them. The main goals, working goals, learning difficulties, knowledge structure, concept specification, knowledge organization, role of school science, program-solving instruction, formal…

Argues that the concept of difficult temperament does not yet have enough empirical basis to justify its use for practical purposes. Suggests that the concept possesses enough construct validity to justify further research, particularly when temperamental differences are seen as a parent's perception rather than solely as a child's characteristic.…

Education and training are primarily responsible for war and peace, states the author in discussing fallacies in the concept of peace education to promote nonviolence and tolerance. Noting that school competitiveness, as well as adult hypocrisy, promotes crime and violence, he considers challenges to peace education. (MF)

Noting the current push for rigor in secondary school curriculums (the lead member of the "new three Rs" of rigor, relevance, and relationships), Washor and Mojkowksi take a closer look at the prevailing conception of rigor. They argue that a narrowly defining a rigorous curriculum as one with more advanced courses and more factual content…

Responds to F. Uhlig's article on linear algebra that appeared in an earlier edition of this journal. (KHR)

Claims that even if objections to eudaimonism are completely correct, critics still have not explained how anyone might develop a eudaimonistic moral conception. Concludes that moral personality is a legitimate object of study and discusses the challenges posed by taking moral personality seriously. (MOK)

Adresses how doctors know when they have learned enough to cease reading, or talking with colleagues, or using medicine and begin using what they have learned to solve the precipitating problem. (Author/CCM)

Wilson discusses ways in which educational research is rendered ineffective, stemming from distortion of the concepts of "education" and "research." Includes three commentaries: Harry Brighouse discusses factors impeding research, John White contests the definition of education, and Marian Sainsbury argues that educational…

Issues of meaning have become central concerns of research on language development. There are at least four reasons for the neglect of meaning by earlier researchers. First, Chomsky's original theory assumed that syntax could be described and explained independently of meaning. Second, linguists had long assumed that semantics was too messy and…

The California Mathematics Standards are cynical, mind-numbing, and shallow. Instead of balancing problem solving, concept development, and skill acquisition, the standards are full of obsolete mathematics and devoid of problem solving. Students offering only an algorithm when asked for meaning have style without substance. Blind memorization is…